The invention relates to a carton or sleeve for accommodating articles, for example information discs or the like, formed from one or more blanks of paperboard or other suitable foldable sheet material and more particularly to a sleeve capable of being formed into a sealed compartment comprising two or more disc pockets.
Examples of sleeves formed from one or more blanks of cardboard may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,319 which illustrates an envelope like container made of a single blank comprising one or more open topped pockets formed from three panels foldably connected in series. The bottom of the sleeve is formed by a flap secured to one of the outer panels by glue. Other examples illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,297 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,898. However, the gluing and folding process of known sleeves is relatively complex and slow.
The present invention and its preferred embodiments seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.
According to the first aspect of the invention there is provided a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like. The sleeve comprises a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to one of the opposite side edges of the back panel, and a front panel foldably connected to the bottom edge of the back panel. The partition panel is folded and disposed over the back panel to define a first disc pocket between the back panel and the partition panel while the front panel is folded and disposed over the partition panel to define a second disc pocket between the partition panel and the front panel. This arrangement provides an envelope having two or more disc pockets and a closed bottom. Preferably, the front panel further comprises securing flaps foldably connected respectively to the opposite side edges of the front panel to secure the front panel to the back panel.
According to an optional feature of the first aspect of the invention, at least one of the front or back panels may comprise a recess opening to the top edge thereof to allow a user access to a disc contained in the sleeve.
According to another optional feature of this aspect of the invention, there may be a protrusion extending from the partition panel to protect a disc contained in the sleeve.
According to yet another optional feature of this aspect of the invention, a second partition panel may be foldably connected to the other side edge of the back panel. The second partition panel may be disposed between the first partition panel and the front panel to form a third disc pocket between the first and second partition panels.
A second aspect of the invention provides a blank for forming a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like. The blank may comprise a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to one of the opposite side edges of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to a bottom edge of the back panel, and a pair of securing flaps hingedly connected to the opposite side edges of the front panel.
A third aspect of the invention provides a method of forming a sleeve with two or more disc pockets from a blank. The blank comprises a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to one of the side edges of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to the bottom edge of the back panel, and a pair of securing flaps hingedly connected respectively to the opposite side edges of the front panel. The method comprises the steps of (i) folding the partition panel into face contacting arrangement with the back panel; (ii) folding the front panel into face contacting arrangement with the partition panel; and (iii) securing the front and back panels together by means of the securing flaps. The securing step may comprise applying glue to the securing flap, and folding the securing flaps into face contacting arrangement with the outside surface of the back panel.